RICHARD FIKE HAS STARTED HIS OWN
STUNTMAN BUSINESS NOT IN HOLLYWOOD, BUT IN MADISON
TOWNSHIP September 27, 2011 - The Plain Dealer,
Cleveland.com
MADISON
TOWNSHIP, Ohio -- The next time you watch your favorite
actor pull a crazy stunt in an action movie, look
closer. It may be Richard Fike.
Fike, 55, whose motto is "We take the risks. You take
the credit" runs Stunt Predators USA from this Lake
County community. He has been involved in the stuntman
trade for 25 years and worked on more than 75 films and
television shows. He travels all over the country for
his craft, though he prefers to work close to home.
You will see him as a New York City policeman shooting
at alien invaders in next May's "Avengers" movie that
was filmed in downtown Cleveland last month.
He's also all over "Fun Size," another movie filmed in
Cleveland and Cleveland Heights this summer. He was the
film's official stunt coordinator.
He did stunt work for two other movies filmed in
Cleveland this summer, "I, Alex Cross" and "Boot
Tracks."
When Fike is not leaping through windows, shooting at
aliens or getting blown up, he runs Madison Combined
Martial Arts where he trains dozens of students from
children to adults in his own form of martial arts that
combine several disciplines.
Many of his students go on to work with his stunt
company and have performed in movies.
"We had 28 local stunt people, including students, work
in 'Fun Size,' like 8-year-old Emily Smith of Madison
who was the double for little Jackson Nicoll, one of the
main characters," Fike said. "Johnny Knoxville kept
wanting to do his own stunts, so I worked with him a lot
to keep him from getting hurt."
He said he looks for people with specific skills to
handle specific jobs.
"First thing they need to know is discipline," he said.
"That's the advantage my students have because they
already know this. They need to be athletic and be able
to know how not to get hurt. Often, directors will need
someone who can ride a BMX bike, or skateboard, or jump
rope, and we find people with those skills. Once we
match a person up, we train him to do the stunt."
He said shooting got a little scary on "The Avengers"
film when he and a woman had to dive out of the way of a
falling piece of burning building.
"It was safe, but it was scary," he said. "A chunk of
building was dropped from a crane on East Ninth Street,
and we had to dive out of the way."
Fike has handled stunts, special effects or pyrotechnics
("I'm very good at blowing [up] things,") for more than
35 movies including "Welcome To Collinwood,"
"Unstoppable" and "The Babe Ruth Story" and lesser-known
movies like "The Cut Off," "Bet Your Life" and "Martians
From Venus."
He stresses safety, but has had his share of injuries.
"We always try to be careful, but I've had broken
elbows, ankles and ribs, had my nose broken and had my
hair catch fire," he said. "I was in Southern Ohio
working with Val Kilmer recently on a movie called
'Seven Below,' and I got knocked out crashing a van into
a tree. It happens, no matter how careful you are."
Fike became interested in martial arts while in Madison
High School. He continued his training in the U.S. Army.
Soon, he was the one doing the training for the military
with Army Special Operations.
He can't talk in detail about years working in
counter-terrorism in the United States and overseas
because of national security, but said they were
exciting times that make fighting aliens feel like
child's play.
And when he says he can take down and immobilize an
opponent in less than a second, he's probably not
exaggerating.
He could have moved anywhere and set up a martial arts
studio and stuntman business, but he stayed in Ohio out
of loyalty to his hometown. Fike looks forward to
Hollywood coming to Cleveland.
He said the city is getting a good reputation as an
excellent place to create movies.
"There are not many cities willing to close down a
street for a solid month and let you film on it," he
said. "That goes a long way to deciding where a film is
made. And when it happens, the city reaps the benefits
of tons of money spent and local people put to work."
He said he would rather see more local people employed
on movies shot in Cleveland. For some films, the
directors bring in stunt people from Los Angeles to do
work that Fike or members of his group could do just as
well.
"Sometimes directors get comfortable working with
certain people, so they stick with them," he said. "I
just wish they would let us show what we can do."
Madison-based stunt team seeing more
local work for Hollywood, including recent ‘Avengers’
work
Friday, August 26, 2011
By Mark Meszoros
Entertainment@News-Herald.com
Recently, Richard Fike and his Madison-based team had to
drive to downtown Cleveland for work.
There, they were beat up, tossed around and nearly blown
up.
And it was all just great as far as they’re concerned.
Fike, who owns Madison Combined Martial Arts on Main
Street, also is the leader of Team Stunt Predators, a
group of stunt men, women and even youth — typically
students he’s worked with at his dojo — available for
hire for film work.
“The big thing is we’re not daredevils,” Fike says.
“Daredevils are risk takers. They do it for the thrill
and the attention. They don’t care if they get hurt or
someone else gets hurt.
“Stunt professionals are individuals who are
professionally trained, who take calculated risks. The
goal is to get the shot for the director.
Most recently, the director was Joss Whedon, the creator
of TV series “Buffy the Vampire Slayer” and “Firefly,”
and the shots were for “The Avengers,” the big-budget
movie about the Marvel Comics superheroes that’s been
filming downtown.
Fike says when he heard a big chunk of the “Avengers”
would be shot in Cleveland, he sent the stunt
coordinator a book with his entire Team Stunt Predators
roster, about 35 people.
“I try to sell the whole team,” he says.
However, they hired four: Tommy Quinn of Melbourne,
Fla., who’s from Ashtabula: John Sundquist of Ashtabula;
Todd Emmett of Geneva; and Fike.
“A lot of it was looks,” says Fike, explaining that the
production was interested in taller guys and joking that
he’s not sure how he was included based on that
criteria.
Team members have been included in myriad productions
since forming in 1986, mainly in Kentucky, Indiana,
Michigan, Pennsylvania and, of course, Ohio. And they’ve
earned a tremendous reputation, Fike says.
“The word travels very fast,” he says. “(Filmmakers)
don’t want to work with you if you’re a risk.”
Safety is key, he says. Injuries slow down a shoot, and
that means added costs. Fike takes pride in them having
been called “the one-take team,” meaning that his guys
can do it right in one try. He acknowledges, though,
that a director typically wants at least two takes to be
safe.
For the “Avengers” production, just as with the shoot
for fellow Marvel production “Spider-Man 3” a few years
ago, a portion of downtown Cleveland is standing in for
New York City. Two weeks ago, Fike and his guys took on
a variety of tasks, mainly playing NYC cops early on.
“The first day, we were driving patrol cars — precision
driving — coming up and stopping to where they wanted,”
says Emmett, a Geneva police officer.
“We were responding to an alien invasion,” Fike says.
“As we got out (of patrol cars),” Emmett says, “the
aliens were coming out from the top of the buildings and
we were shooting up at them.
“I think I got two or three,” he says with a laugh.
At other times, they were pedestrians. Fike says he
traded in the police uniform for a pin-striped suit for
one scene.
Fike says there are basically two types of stunt person:
The doubles the main cast members get, who travel with
the production wherever it goes: and nondesignated — or
utility — professionals hired for a certain location and
basically asked to do whatever’s needed at the time. On
“The Avengers,” he and his men were the latter.
“We are the workhorse of stunts,” he says, adding that
12-hour days are typical.
And, as members of the Screen Actors Guild, they all can
serve as actors, which they did.
“Instead of paying an actor to play a cop and hiring a
stuntman to double him, they just hire a stuntman,” he
says.
“Out of 120,000 SAG members, only 7,000 are SAG stunts,”
he adds. “It’s easier to become an actor on screen than
a stuntman.
“It’s very unique. They use us for everything.”
Fike and his guys have been even more of use to
Hollywood of late thanks to Ohio’s tax-relief-based
efforts to bring more productions to the state. Along
with “The Avengers,” Team Stunt Predators has taken part
in filmings of, among others, “Fun Size,” a Halloween
comedy starring Victoria Justice, Johnny Knoxville and
Chelsea Handler; and “Boot Tracks,” a thriller starring
Michelle Monaghan and Willem Dafoe.
Not surprisingly, the guys love when they can work in
Northeast Ohio.
“Obviously, it means that we get to stay home,” Fike
says. “We can work more because we don’t have to travel
so far.”
Of course, the stunt work means extra cash for the guys,
but the benefits go beyond that.
“It’s part of expanding our martial arts training in a
way,” says Quinn. “We all grew up watching Bruce Lee, so
you think, ‘This is kind of cool.’”
"It’s just fun,” says team member Tom Dziak of Madison,
who wasn’t on “The Avengers” job but was hired as
Knoxville’s double on “Fun Size.” “It brings out the kid
in all of us.”
Few productions are like “The Avengers,” which will
bring together Marvel heroes Iron Man (Robert Downey
Jr.), Captain America (Chris Evans), Thor (Chris
Hemsworth), the Hulk (Mark Ruffalo), Black Widow
(Scarlett Johansson), Hawkeye (Jeremy Renner) and Nick
Fury (Samuel L. Jackson).
According to Fike, the movie boasts a $300 million
budget. If the guys couldn’t tell they were on a pricey
production based on the explosions and pieces of phony
buildings falling around them during the shoot, it could
be the fact that each had his own trailer.
“When it’s all said and done, it will be marketed as the
biggest action adventure to date,” he says. “For us to
be part of that was an honor and thrilling.”
PRESS RELEASE – Madison, Ohio 23
August 2011
Ohio based Stunt Professionals; Stunt Predators USA has
had a busy summer. All totaled, they have worked on five
feature films, most recently wrapping up with Marvel
Studios super feature “The Avengers” a $300
million dollar film that is reported to be the biggest
action super hero film ever made. "The Avengers"
features, Chris Evans, Chris Hemsworth, Robert Downey
Jr., Scarlett Johansson and Samuel L. Jackson.
Besides “The Avengers”, Stunt
Predators members have worked Paramount Pictures “Fun
Size” starring Victoria Justice, Johnny Knoxville
and Chelsea Handler, Cuyahoga Brothers film “Boot
Tracks” starring Willem Defoe, Michelle Monaghan and
Stephen Dorff; “Seven Below” with Val Kilmer,
Ving Rhames and Luke Goss, and they currently working “I
Alex Cross” starring Tyler Perry, Jean Reno, Matthew
Fox, and Cicely Tyson.
Richard Fike, Director of the Team Stunt
Predators is extremely proud of his team and noted that
this is his 25th anniversary in stunts. It started back
in 1986 with the NFL Cleveland Browns fantasy video,
“Masters of the Gridiron”. Since then he has worked in
and stunt coordinated over 70 feature films, commercials
and videos. “I never had an interest in moving to LA. My
family, martial arts school and church are located here,
and I would have to give up too much to leave. My team
will travel on request to work films, but it is nice to
have them moving into Ohio to produce their projects.
The waiting has finally paid off.”
“I am fortunate to have a strong base of
stunt players to build from. Many of them have been with
me for over 20 years, and I am currently developing more
stuntmen, women and children from by martial arts school
here in Madison. I do get requests and accept
applications for membership from throughout Ohio and
also receive a large amount of contacts from other stunt
professionals from around the country.”
“My dojo has been here for over 23 years and I know that
my students are disciplined and talented. That is why I
draw most of my stunt team from my martial arts school.
I know them very well and they know me and understand
what I expect. I have high standards and require strict
requirements to enter this industry. Safety is priority
and skill is second. My team members are very respectful
and work very hard to perform at the level necessary to
compete for work in film and television. We are from
Ohio not LA so we must work even harder to keep our
skills sharp and offer what “Hollywood” Producers and
Directors expect from Stunt Professionals. With over
120,000 Screen Actors Guild members, only 7000 are
professional stunt players. It is easier to become an
actor then a recognized stuntman.”
“I would really like to note the hard
work and effort provided by the Greater Cleveland Film
Commission for spear heading these feature films to the
Greater Cleveland area. Executive Director Ivan Schwarz
seems to appear everywhere promoting Cleveland and our
skilled talent, vendors and crew that we have right here
in North East Ohio. Hollywood is definitely listening
and it doesn’t look like we’re going to slow down
anytime soon. Also, I want to thank Jason Drake the
Cleveland Office’s Production Coordinator for his work
and support; he is always ready to help and answer your
questions. Production companies need a strong connection
– strong communication with the venue they plan on
shooting in; without the support from the Cleveland Film
office and Gail Mezey from the Ohio Film Office, nothing
would be happening.
